Israel Considers Mandating Military Service for Israeli Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has announced that legislation under consideration to introduce universal conscription would mandate that Israel's Orthodox Jewish fundamentalists as well as its Arab citizens participate in military and national service. More here.

Sarah Palin at the Wailing Wall

After a visit to Jerusalem's Wailing Wall last month the controversial US politician Sarah Palin said that she it was "overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith." Palin is apparently Jewish as she might otherwise have made her comments after visiting the Holy Sepulchre...

Russian Jewess Refuses to Renounce Orthodoxy for Israeli Citizenship

Again and Again has an amazing story here.

Georgia Agrees to Register Foreign Religious Organizations

Twenty-two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union the Georgian government has agreed to register certain religious organizations representing non-Georgians in the country. The Armenian Orthodox Church in Georgia, the Department of Transcaucasian Muslims, the Jewish community in Georgia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Baptist Church are all to be registered with the government, which will give them standing similar to the Church of Georgia. More here.

More Felasha Arrive in Israel from Ethiopia

The last 300 of a group of 8,000 Felasha, Jews from northern Ethiopia, has arrived in Israel. Some Felasha are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, but many have continued to follow their form of Judaism, which in its worship and sacrificial practices far predates the modern rabbinical Judaism that dominates Israeli society. Nevertheless, the Israeli government has required the Felasha to convert to rabbinic Judaism within 2 years of their immigration to Israel or face deportation. More here.

Pictured are some of the new Felasha immigrants arriving in Tel Aviv.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Clarifies Past Statements

In an interview Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus sought to clarify his previous statements on Jews and other groups he views as threat to Greece, but in the process only reinforced the impressions given by his previous statements. More here.